Special Events on August 20, 2022: Flights and Props & Hops!

Coming up on Saturday August 20 are 2 events not to be missed! First up is a Flight Day! You can purchase a ride in one of our vintage WWII training aircraft from 10 am to 4 pm. Just call or email the museum to book a flight or obtain more information – believe me, a flight in one of these is an amazing experience and a chance to experience an important part of Canadian history!

Then at 6 pm – 8 pm is our first ever Props and Hops event! We have partnered with Black Wheat Brewing to bring this event to our museum! Five Manitoba based Brewers will be on hand with their beverages. Sample Manitoba’s finest in a WWII hangar and amongst vehicles and aircraft form that era! Museum volunteers will be on hand to show you around and answer questions! (note that Props and Hops you must be 18+). Get your tickets soon before they are gone!

A Special Museum Visitor!

On Saturday, July 23 (Open Cockpit Day) we had a special visitor at the museum. Retired RCAF Colonel Gordon Brennand was on hand to sign copies of his book, “Farm Boy to Fly Boy“ (we have several copies for sale at the museum). Gordon was a CF-86 Sabre pilot, an advanced jet fighter at the time. Interestingly, one of his flights during his training was in our Harvard. Our Harvard saw a long history as a trainer in the BCATP as well as post war. Check out the photos below!

An RCAF CF-86 Sabre like the one flown by Col. Brennand (taken by M. Nantais (museum volunteer) at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton)
Col. Brennand signing books
Col. Brennand in front of the museum’s Harvard
CATPM’s Harvard pilot, Jeff with Col. Brennand in front of the Harvard

Open Cockpit Day!

On July 23rd, we will be hosting an “open cockpit” event. Pilots will be on hand to help you take a look inside the cockpit of our airworthy airplanes and to answer your questions. Rides in the aircraft will take place as well – most are pre-booked, so email the museum for more information, or try your luck on a walk up ride, if slots are open. (note that the minimum age for flights is 12, ages 12-17 require a parental/guardian waiver) This day also marks the Brandon Flying Club’s annual fly in breakfast.

Kids of all ages can climb into the cockpit of a WWII era Cessna Crane and try the controls! For the little ones, we always have our ever popular pedal planes (see below) available! We will also have museum volunteers available to assist if you wish to sit in a few of our vintage vehicles! Normal museum admission is in effect (see here for details).

Museum Tours Back with a Vengeance!

While we are reminded that the pandemic is not over, things have returned much closer to ‘normal’. This meant that tours were once again being booked at the museum. We did have one school come for a tour in fall, but this spring tours came back strong, and we could not be happier! We saw about 25 different schools come for tours, some brought multiple classes as well. Overall we saw over 500 students along with their teachers and other chaperones tour the museum! We thoroughly enjoyed having the museum filled with eager and inquisitive youngsters. We want to thank all the teachers who have shown such dedication over the trials of the pandemic, we hope you all enjoyed your tours and we wish you a well deserved summer break. We also had several teachers testing out our new BCATP learning kit, and we appreciate your feedback as well. We hope to have the kit our for wider distribution next school year. Teachers and Principals, if you want to learn more about this kit, let us know. Also consider booking a fall tour! Field trips are always exciting for students and do not have to occur in spring (I know, I was a teacher and took field trips at all times of the year!) Teachers – also check out our Education page for some links and games.

Overall we saw over 500 students along with their teachers and other chaperones tour the museum!

So – once again, thank you to all teachers, but a special thanks to those who came to the museum for a tour! Enjoy summer!

A final note – we did have a few adult groups in as well! We can do tours for any age group any time of year!

Once again, thank you to all teachers, but a special thanks to those who came to the museum for a tour!

Armed Forces Day ’22 – Thank you!

The CATPM’s first Canadian Armed Forces Day was a success.  Visitors thoroughly enjoyed the day considering it was cool and windy. Our visitor numbers were similar to past events and in the 250 to 300 range.  We had some private aircraft participation with the T-28 Trojan, a Harvard, and a Stearman. The Shilo base came through with a display as did the RCA Museum, 26th Field Museum, Brandon Flight Centre, and CASARA.  We hoped the RCAF would be able to send some display aircraft, but there is always next year! Thanks so much to everyone who participated, volunteered and visited, we are so grateful to all of you for helping celebrate our dedicated military.  Yours – Stephen Hayter, Executive Director, CATPM

Check out the video slideshow of the event below:

Video slideshow of Canadian Armed Forces Day 2022